Marine Plankton in Milford Haven
Pembrokeshire UK
Aims of the Site
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To share marine plankton information
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Display photos of plankton biodiversity
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Provide an educational resource
Welcome. This site covers coastal plankton washing on to the stunning shores of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. There is an amazing biodiversity of microscopic life living in every drop of seawater. Collections are made around Milford Haven, part of the Special Area of Conservation, with the most regular ones made in Dale. Other locations. Before looking at the details of The Species you may want to have quick look at the Biodiversity page while Methods looks specifically at how the samples are taken and photographed.
Photo of the Month
March and April are the months for polychaetes (marine worms) in Milford Haven. At the end of March an explosion of their trochophore larvae occurred and the appearance of these two gorgeous worms. The genus is Myrianida, also known by its synonym Autolytus, and the top one is a male (note the forked antennae) and the bottom a brooding female with eggs in a sac. Each approximately 7mm long and photographed on 29th March 2025. She barely lives for a month, looking after the eggs, and both are non-feeding in the plankton, because these are not the main worm (or stock animal). That creature lives on the shore and produces these small sexual forms called stolons that live in the plankton to reproduce and disperse.
Producing these stolons is called epitoky and to find out more click here to go to polychaete epitoky.